Sofirn C8T premier review/test - Like!

I measured it with my micrometer.

Total head length (without bezel screwed on, measured from the edge of both open ends of the head = 57mm

33.5mm depth to the heat sink milling (from bezel thread’s edge on front of light)
13mm from tube entry to the face of my driver (screwed in)

Thus 57mm less 46.5mm leaves 10.5mm from the SPRING side of my driver, the the FRONT face of the pillbox (back of the MCPCB).

Given the heat sink behind the MCPCB is approximately 4mm (a close guess), that would leave you about 6mm to work with for the 1/2 of your driver that would need the space in between the driver mount area and back of the pills heat sink (back of the head)- PLUS wires. My driver is about 5mm thick and there was a LITTLE play to work with the 18g wires… close to maybe 3-4 mm of play.

I have another C8s host coming in a few weeks and I can measure it more precisely then. But there are ALSO no threads left to back the driver out either… I got a good 3-4 turns on it— but the retaining ring is still not quite flush with the start of the head’s driver threads.

So the driver’s board thickness could not be much thicker… and conversely… could not go in any more shallow that my driver does sit.

So sadly, my best guess is “maybe”… sorry :weary:

So… I’d try it and if it’s a no-go, then just grab another driver (thankfully there are some good ones that fit!!!). I bi-passed the tail and tweaked the Bistro HD and this light really is a great little bright light (and medium thrower), with just enough spill to be usable for all-around use. I’ll build another (#2) Sofirn C8s host with the same SST-40 (de-domed next time) and another one of Lexels Bistro HD TA driver- that he confirmed will draw up to 8 amps off a good 18650- and that puts this LED at HIGHER output (2500 lumens) than the xpl HI at the same current domed or de-domed :smiling_imp:

Could one of you kindly help with another measurement? What is the diameter of the opening underneath the driver? That is… how small of a driver will fit without falling through?

I ordered on the of the Sofirn C8 hosts (the one with the 17mm driver opening) and love it. Well, that is until I found out that I can’t fit a typical nanjg105c driver in it without extensive modifications. The 7135’s interfere with the driver retaining ring (much like on an S2/S2+). A single sided driver works great, but I’m wondering if I can fit a 17mm driver will hold tightly in the 20.8mm version without it falling through.

Side note… what LED gaskets/insulators does this one come with?

My calipers can’t reach in but eyeballing it very close I’m getting .732”/18.6mm ID. Not much “lip” there unfortunately (on my spare host anyway). So the 20.8 host won’t work.

But…

I grinded my C8F retain rings to almost 1mm thick (at about a 35 - 40 degree angle all around) on the driver contact side of the ring when I installed Lexel’s NarsilD TA 17mm drivers- and your problem sounds JUST like mine did. Lexel suggested the ring grind and also said “careful” light sanding on the chip’s edge (just a touch) is ok— But just to relieve pressure. I decided to just grind the ring as far as I could and it worked out nicely. 1st driver, hand file and 30 minutes; 2nd driver dremel and 2 minutes :+1:

Might try that trick if you can seat the driver. Good luck! :beer:

Thanks, Zappaman! You don’t happen to have a spare 17mm driver or board sitting around that you could try seating in there, do ya?

In the 20.8mm host??? It would fall right through— as my measurements showed (by at least a mm).

Yeah, kinda figured as much. Just thought it’d be worth a shot. Either way - I appreciate the help!

If you haven’t done the ring grind trick… Why don’t you measure the width of the chips edge on that driver and send it to me and I CAN compare to my 17mm Narsil TA driver (I seated in the 17mm C8F host)?

Can do (later this evening) :+1:

I pulled my 17mm driver out of my (work in process) C8F and the distance from the furthest edge of two opposing chips (measured on their corners) is 15.58(ish) mm. I did sand the corners of my SIX chips on this driver- just a tad and after the retaining ring “grind boogy”- it all snugs down perfectly (with more like .8mm left ON THE DRIVER side of the ring).

Looking at it, I could have gone deeper (to about .5mm left) on the driver contact point of the ring. But as it is, my chips are not touching the ring with any pressure as when I tighten it I can tell the pressure doesn’t start UNTIL it’s seated within 1/4 turn.

So, you may be able to use the host you have in the hand :wink: Cross my finger for ya! :beer:

You can get a washer with the right-sized hole that the driver would just barely fit onto (not into), and if not bought as such, shave down the outer diameter to fit the hole in the light’s head.

Eg, to fit a 17mm washer into a 22mm hole, I got M16×22×1.5 washers. 16mm inner hole lets the 17mm driver rest on a ½-mm ledge, and that drops into the 22mm hole in the light.

If you have some step-bits, you can use it to ever-so-lightly bore out the ledge to keep the driver from sliding around. Solder the driver in the washer. Then you pretty much have a faux “22mm” driver.

Why isn’t the “T” version available on Amazon
I do not have the patience for Ali.

I have had some long waits from Sofirn, but IF you see the listing with the circled text here:

— then it’s usually faster from AE.

My last Sofirn light order for several lights had a few models “handled by AE” (during the AE anniversary sale on March 29th), they got here Monday. So that was just 12 days which is blazing speed for anything from China. So I went and checked and several older orders “fulfilled by AE)” have also come faster- twice as fast on average than if shipped by the seller.

Of course there are no guarantees and I’m not sure if the C8T is sold through this AE shipping network (the one I bought during that same sale was not; still waiting for it). But there were several places they list the SAME light sometimes— and I now think that might be because one is local to the seller, while the other may be “handled by AE”.

Anyway… a tip for anyone buying anything from AE (FWIW).

Not flashlights, but I also bought some stuff on 3/28 for the anniversary sale from multiple sellers and the orders have been rolling in this week - even with the slow (non ePacket) shipping. That’s like 8 business days (10 if you include Saturdays)… some of the fastest shipments I’ve ever had from China (outside of DHL stuff).

The SP10As and SP32s that were “handled by AE” were in the Monday box (yes, it came fast!)

And… the SF31s are not in the US yet (of course). Qidong (at Sofirn) sent me that pic I posted above and confirmed AE handled deliveries were faster.

I am still waiting on an order posted March 12th (no tracking updates for over four weeks— then today it’s in Kansas City suddenly)! :stuck_out_tongue:

EDIT: (9 hours later) -AND… I was even MORE surprised to FIND this old, almost forgotten order in the mailbox later TODAY!

I also ordered some more Sofirn flashlights. The “handled by AliExpress” arrived very fast (almost like expedited shipping) in my country too (less than 2 weeks from ordering). My other Sofirn flashlights (not “handled by AE”) are just leaving China, based on tracking info…

The new Sofirn C8T I re-ordered, still comes only with non-AR coated glass lens, despite the manual stating it uses “AR-coated” glass.
(Ok, I understand there’s very little brightness difference with AR vs non-AR, but I would think they have fixed it since they last mentioned it.)

So I ordered the AR lenses and I must admit— I couldn’t see any coating as I easily see with others. But Sofirn claims it’s coated and I did replace my January kits.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE OLD LENSES— ON EDGE… you will see they are green (like old Coke bottles- light, frosted green) whereas the new lenses are truly clear (and look thinner by a hair)

My newer Sofirn C8* lights (since mid-March) DO have the clear glass (including the FOUR more C8F kits I ordered) — but I have no way to test except to try each outside some night. I guess I’ll do that and see if I can tell a difference. Jury is still out.

I still need to compare some lights here officially, but until I get my camera fired up… I DID finally get my C8T in a few days ago.

I compared it to my shaved SST-40 in my C8(s) Sofirn host built (with Lexel’s Bistro driver delivering 7-8 amps to the SST-40) and I have to say this C8T frikkin’ keeps up! I was expecting the long throw, but the general output (compared to the SST-40) is all around as good; and I actually prefer the warmer tint of the C8T. I spent about twice as much to build my SST-40 mod, and the Bistro UI is quite nice, but again… the C8T is impressive in many ways and quite the equal to my custom light here.

I also love the C8A and when I get some fully charged batteries, I plan to compare the C8T and C8A both, and also check them against my C8F (with shaved XPL V6’s). Again, need time and some topped off 18650s- coming soon!

Mya’ I suck… Spring (finally) hit here in Kansas and suddenly I’m out-of-time during darker hours (in bed). I am also chronically waiting for parts.

I’ll get my arse out there soon though. I’ll go for comparison beams between the C8T, C8A, C8F and Q8. I had driver issues with the shaved XPL version of my C8F that also is causing a delay- but Lexel is working on it. But I can build the same shaved XPL light out to a DD (which was the plan anyway- for gun use).

But for testing… I’ll borrow another C8A’s clicky tail switch (so not using the FET tail pressure switch for testing as it would be cumbersome). As I’ll be bypassing the side switch for this C8F gun light, I’ll otherwise use Lexel’s FET pressure switch when on the gun of course. I just need a rainy day or two to get me sitting at my bench with the solder station, then a night on the back deck with some camera I also need to dig up.

For now I can say the XP-L2 version of my C8F (the one working one with Narsil driver) has a good flood, but the throw isn’t as good as the shaved XPLs (I briefly tested with a problem driver now back at Lexel’s shop) :wink: I did finally get XPL HIs (V3s) also in (just a few days ago from KD- they are taking forever lately BUT they do eventually get here so fair enough). I’d like to build THAT light tested against the shaved XPLs (V6) — with Lexel’s driver I hope to get back and working soon.

Anyway, if I had all the parts, it would be easier to “geter done” :beer:

I got my C8T in two days ago, and holy crap the throw. Very yugeimpressive length. I’ve probably annoyed the neighbors with the spill alone lol. Jokes aside, I’ve easily and brightly lit up trees that are 825ft away, passing it’s 250m rating with flying colors. The reflector is gorgeous too. I’ll be testing it tonight while I’m camping, but it’s impressed me so far…